Sunday, May 29th

However, in the morning they had to exit the same window and traverse the same ledge in order to get to breakfast.

They were told that the lock would be removed in the morning after we had returned from our first activity of the day--a hike up to a viewpoint, so off we went.

There was a long road up to the top of a mountain where the views were fantastic. We all set off about 7:30 and began the walk. We saw some very interesting homes, and a number of children sitting outside of them or playing in the yard. It was Sunday and we saw a number of cars heading in the other direction, carrying people obviously on their way to church.

House with prayer flags on the roofs

We passed Doctor Graham’s School, which was started in the early 20th century.

It was initially started by him so that orphaned children of tea plantation workers and other orphans could receive an education. It is primarily a residential school, but some people from Kalimpong go there as well. Ganesh, his son (Honey’s husband) went there, and Honey’s two girls so there as well.

It was pretty far up the road, and Jo and I were wilting a little under the heat.

We kept going for about another 30 minutes and then decided to head back. Jim and David continued on for what turned out to be at least another hour hike (going much faster than they could have with us).

Some photos from their hike:

Jo and I went back to the Orchid Retreat to check on the lock. Not good. The handyman could not get the lock off with his tools. He went back and got a crowbar. Nope. He then got a hammer. Nope. Finally he got a hacksaw, and started…and continued…and continued. By this time, Jo was getting pretty despondent. Finally he got it off, and Jo was able to get into their cabin.

Now off to breakfast to wait for Jim and David. There was one other guest whose name was Martin. He was from approximately 30 miles outside of London. He was travelling alone, and this was his third time to the Orchid Retreat. He asked where we were from and I told him from Delaware, a state in the East of the USA. He said he had worked in Delaware. I said we lived in Old New Castle –and he said he had stayed in New Castle. No kidding. It turned out his company made software for bridge ticketing and he had worked at the Delaware Memorial Bridge and at the Cape May-Lewes Ferry. And we were in India; this was truly unbelievable.

David interjects: apparently he also had an interaction with Jo that went like this, read it in a heavy British accent

Martin: "Does your husband frequently play that banjo?" (referring to my 2 hours of practicing the day before)
Jo: "Why yes, he does"
Martin: "Oh dear God..."
(yes Martin, may God take pity on your soul {no, in all seriousness the banjo retreated until I figured out that my Croc strap functions as an excellent mute!})

Jim and David returned, and after breakfast, we sat on our porches, relaxed (which I don’t do very well!) , and David and Jo went off for a rest. After they got up, we decided to take a taxi into Kalimpong to check out the markets and get some fruit and snacks for our trip back to Delhi. The market was incredibly crowded, and there was yet another opportunity for a hair-raising adventure in a taxi cab. Once we got there, David and Jim proceeded to have a truly unique experience – a shave and a haircut. Part of the haircut includes some “cupping motion” of the scalp, followed by a head massage! Jo and I found a fruit store and got some mangos, chocolate, and Nutella and then Jo and David got ice cream bars to finish out our exciting adventure! Back to the Orchid Retreat for dinner and bed – this time David and Jo could actually get in their room.

Thursday, May 26th: Exploring Darjeeling

Notes from the traveling desk of Rita Meek

Note from David: Hard to believe, but I don't have any photos from today, so this will be a text-heavy post!

As usual, Jim and I woke up multiple times during the night and stayed up for good at about 5 am. Soon thereafter a monk was walking down the street, ringing his gong. Another unusual start to what will undoubtedly be an amazing day!

We had breakfast with David and Jo in their room which looks out on the street scene in Darjeeling.We were all fascinated by the number of children who were beautifully dressed in uniforms, obviously going to one of a variety of schools. We saw the people putting up their stands and arranging their goods for the day. Also, foreigners strolled by wearing ‘interesting’ clothes (on Friday Jo and I saw a gentleman wearing Coca-Cola pants). We set off for the zoo, and along the way, my stomach began to give signs and signals that it was very unhappy. We found out that the zoo was closed on Thursday, so we decided to head off to the Happy Valley tea factory. Along the way, I got to visit the Mayfair Hotel since we thought that was the most likely establishment that would have an American-style bathroom. We walked down the slope to the Happy Valley tea plantation after a fairly long meander, passing a number of older women picking tea leaves.

At the factory entrance we were greeted by a guide. As opposed to the tea tour the day before, this one did not allow any photographs of the inside of the factory. We were taken from room-to-room, and one of the things that I thought was particularly interesting was that the workers are divided into three groups: around 18 - ?, over 50, and inbetween. The oldest group was assigned areas to pick which were the closest to the factory; the youngest were given areas farthest from the factory, and the middle were inbetween. It seemed like the group worked as a team, so that the weight in kg they were supposed to pick was significantly more than anyone could pick on their own. We went into a special building where we met a woman who proceeded to give us a lesson in how to tell the different qualities of tea by blowing on the tea in your hand to release the aroma. She also gave us a cup of the fanciest tea they produce at Happy Valley. The Happy Valley tea is sold only by Harrod’s. By the time we were done with this adventure and bought our obligatory package of the fanciest tea, we headed back by taxi because I was very sick and Jo was very tired. I then went to bed for the rest of the day. David and Jo had a lunch which was “unusual” and then took a nap. Jim went out for an explore and went around Observatory Hill, went to a monastery below Darjeeling. Dinner at a bakery/restaurant and then to bed.

That's all folks....for now!

Well the most recent family visit has been an amazing six weeks. It's hard to believe it wasn't that long ago that I was planning the various itineraries, thinking about how I wanted to "present" India, how I wanted my various family members to experience it for the first time.

Speaking from my perspective, the Delaware/Nevada Meek's trip was an overwhelming success. Sure, everyone got a little sick. Some more than others. But no one got hurt, everyone got exposed to a very different set of cultures and environments than they'd ever experienced.

It was really with quite a mixed bag of emotions that I saw Jon off last night.

We have had what I would describe as an adventure of a lifetime, if we hadn't already had similarly amazing adventures in Alaska, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Honduras, Ecuador, and knowing this pair will have numerous more of varied sorts as time goes on. So perhaps I should say we had another adventure of a lifetime. Yes, that works much better.

But, like every great adventure, it was time to close the book on this one...at least this chapter of it. After all, with two great mustaches like these, what more could one ask for?

What more could one ask for? A wonderfully relaxing apartment, the most incredible wife (and soon-to-be mother) that a husband could be so lucky to come home to, and all sorts of do-it-yourself dad-to-be crafts (more on that soon!).

May 23rd-The Meek's Journey to India-On to the Northeast!

Up very early to get a 5:45 am cab ride to the airport and get on our 7:50 am flight to Siliguri-Badogra airport to begin our trip to Kurseong and then Darjeeling. The flight was uneventful and we were met by the driver sent by the hotel. It was quite an interesting almost two hour ride up through the mountains to get to Kurseong. The road is essentially one car wide – but it is a two lane road, so each car is incessantly honking to let someone from the other direction on the other side of the curve know they are coming.

Several times, there was an impasse where a car from each direction met and neither could get past. Ultimately one had to back up so the other one could get by. One time, a soldier had to make one car move backwards, because 20 cars were piled up behind the car that was headed in the other direction. It was a trip through lush, green forests. We went through a number of small villages, and noticed how multiple shops next to each other all sold the exact same packages of salty snacks, candy, etc. It is unclear how anyone can make a living in this manner. Many small shacks with tin roofs, many houses in various stages of disrepair, many men standing around with apparently nothing to do….

We arrived at the Cochrane Place Hotel, which is clearly much more elegant than the other hostelries in the area. We had two nice rooms. Rita’s and Jim’s was larger with a little balcony and a nice sitting area.

David's perspective is that the hotel was very "funky", with all sorts of interesting pictures, and other bits and bops...such as this, an elephant trunk-shaped exhaust pipe, or perhaps....a tea kettle? Given that we're in tea country we chose the latter!


The entire area was shrouded in thick fog and cloud. Jim and Rita went for a walk in the afternoon, and wandered down a small road into a residential area where the houses were brightly painted. People smiled at us, and many of the homes had beautiful flowers growing outside or in pots. There were cows, goats, chickens, roosters, and dogs wandering around in the street; many of the dogs were in the middle of the street sleeping. The homes were very much in need of repair and paint, and many parts looked like they had been in need for many years.

After our walk (and a nap), we met David and Jo and walked into the town of Kurseong. It is about one and one-half miles from where we are staying (all uphill), and we saw a number of residential areas along the way.

Again we saw all of these little shops, next to each other, where the very same items were sold, and many people were standing around outside. Again, lots of dogs in the streets, along with some chickens, etc. We got into the main street in Kurseong, and there were stores next to stores next to stores. People everywhere. Incessant honking from the bumper-to-bumper traffic. We walked to the train station where we will board “the toy express” to Darjeeling on Wednesday so we could check it out and figure out when we were going to get tickets.

The ticket counter was closed for the day which we knew already but made plans to get the tickets Tuesday morning so we would be sure of seats on the train. We were all feeling pretty tired so we took a taxi back to the Hotel. And it was beginning to rain – which pretty much happened every night. Also the mist persisted for most of our stay in Kurseong.

We had dinner with David and Jo in the hotel restaurant and had a full dinner, with a menu selected by the chef with approval from Jo. (she is so handy to have around since her ability to speak in Hindi makes everything so much easier for the rest of us!) The meal was interesting and we all agreed that the chicken dish was the best although the presentation of white, yellow, and green rice stacked in layers on top of each other was beautiful. However, it made a huge mess of “rice everywhere” when Jim took the first spoonful. After a traditional Indian dessert, we fell into bed, exhausted. And aside from the sound of the torrential rain hitting the tin roof, we all slept like logs.